Those of you who know me at all or who have been following for a while probably know (ought to know) that I went to see The Force Awakens at the earliest possible showing. What that turned into was seeing it twice on "opening day," which was not, actually, opening day, because it was the day before opening day. Fortunately one of those showings was at 7:00 because the main thing I learned is that I am definitely getting too old for midnight shows, which the second viewing was. I also learned that my boys have nowhere near the stamina I did at their ages as both of them also struggled with the midnight viewing. Up until a few years ago, midnight shows where commonplace in my movie viewing repertoire.
All of which is, of course, beside the point other than the fact that when I said to my sons, "I'm getting too old for this sort of thing," as we were leaving the theater (at 2:30am!), they didn't get it. Yes, I was disappointed.
Anyway...
I want to provide some context for the upcoming review and the things I say about Force Awakens before I actually get to talking about that movie.
I have always said that Star Wars changed my life, and I mean that in a very literal sense. Even as a teenager looking back at my childhood, I could see the point where Star Wars came into my childhood and changed my path. Before Star Wars, everything was dinosaurs and cowboys and Indians. Everything changed when I seven. I was one person entering the theater and someone else when I came out. To again borrow the words of Ben Kenobi, I'd taken my first step into a larger world.
Star Wars never faded from my life, though it faded from the world around me. My Star Wars toys decorated my room all the way through the 80s, long after everyone had forgotten Return of the Jedi, and into the 90s just waiting for the resurgence that happened with the release of Zahn's Star Wars novels and the Dark Empire comic book series from Dark Horse in the early 90s. Needless to say, I was elated when Lucas announced the special edition versions of the movies.
And I remained elated after I saw them.
Let me be clear, I am not a part of the "Han shot first" crowd. I am from the "Han shot" era. That was it. Han shot. The whole argument over Han shooting first annoys me to no end. That being said, I have no issue with Lucas adding in the thing with Greedo shooting. It doesn't destroy my childhood or the movie or, even, damage them. I get it. Star Wars became a thing that's much bigger than Lucas ever imagined it would be and making Han a better role model for kids is something I can understand.
There was only one thing they added to the special editions that I didn't like, the scream by Luke as he dropped into the shaft in Cloud City after the duel with Vader, and they later took that back out.
And then there were the prequels...
Let's make that next post, shall we?
Cool post...
ReplyDeleteHappy new year !
Rajiv: Thanks.
DeleteNothing ruins a movie like the insane fanboys surrounding it. I was never a huge Star Wars fan, but I was still so stoked to go see the new movie. It was awesome.
ReplyDeleteJeanne: How did you know that's what I'm talking about next?
DeleteI have seen it twice now. Safe to say, this is the biggest movie event in my life for a good long time - since Phantom Menace, really. I look forward to continuing the discussion with you.
ReplyDeleteTAS: That my wife has been to see this one twice already says a lot about how big this movie is in our house.
DeleteOh, and I am definitely in the Han shot first camp.
DeleteTAS: But that means that Greedo shot, too.
DeleteHappy New Year Andrew. I don't suppose I will get to see it until it comes out on DVD but I am looking forward to doing so.
ReplyDeleteJo: Happy New Year to you!
DeleteI think it's going to be a little longer than for this one to hit DVD than for most movies.
There's a song called "A Long Long Time" by Guy Forsyth that has this line:
ReplyDelete"I discovered religion watching Luke Skywalker rescue Princess Leia and destroying the Death Star by letting go and closing his eyes."
That's kind of how I feel. I'm like you: I'm not some sort of nut about Star Wars; I don't really get into the Expanded Universe or anything, but Star Wars in particular affected me like no other movie ever has before or after. Sometimes I get weirded out by how popular it still is, and I try to remember other things from when I was 8 that still have an impact on me.
Star Wars is actually one of the first things I can remember in my entire life.
I'm not going to read your review of "The Force Awakens" until after I see it. We're going next Saturday for my birthday, provided that we don't all get sick again like the last time we had tickets.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the whole series, though.
Briane: Well, I sort of feel like I am a Star Wars nut. I know way about Star Wars than the people who decided the prequels were trash. Maybe that's why I liked them. I don't know. I have collectibles. I've read many of the books and comics. Lots of stuff. But I also keep it in perspective. Having kids who got into it has helped with that.
DeleteIt will be a couple more posts before any kind of review, if you can even call it that once I get to it.
I have a theory about the prequels. Drew Magary on Deadspin wrote about how he liked them in the theater and only later realized how bad they were. I think most people liked them but (a) the prequels aren't as good as the first three, and (b) people feel social pressure to dislike them.
ReplyDeleteI liked them. I thought they were interesting. There were parts I wasn't crazy about but that's probably true of every movie.
I used to read the old "Star Wars" comic in the 1980s. I read the Timothy Zahn books and the stand-alone Han Solo adventures. I had all the toys, but until I got my stormtrooper for Xmas, I didn't really have any collectibles.
I think 'nut' means someone who is into every aspect of Star Wars, who can name the band and the people in it from the cantina, and know all the EU stuff; I think of myself just as someone who loves Star Wars without all the add-ons.
Briane: Well... um... The Modal Nodes is the band, and they are lead by Figrin D'an. Figran D'an and the Modal Nodes. I don't remember the names of the other band members off the top of my head but, see, I do know that kind of obscure stuff.
DeleteProbably, I will never all that side stuff from the new movies because I'm not as invested in that sort of thing as I used to be (or the time for it). However, my oldest son has taken my spot for digging up all kinds of side stuff.
I admire that level of dedication.
ReplyDeleteStar Wars? Never heard of it.
ReplyDeleteHaving watched the old vhs versions of the OT so many times has made watching the enhanced versions of the late 90's a surprise to me every time I see something added or tweaked (at least the obvious stuff - I probably don't notice tons of little things like mat lines being removed and stuff like that) but I think the biggest sin of the changes has to do with how incongruous they are with the rest of the movie - visually. Han's head tilt and fire looks strange. The creatures added in the foreground at Mos Eisley are compositionaly weird (in my opinion) and distracting.
Regardless, what's done is done. I try not to complain too much. I've just repurchased the OT for home viewing for what I believe is the 6th time, I clearly have no issues supporting the films with my wallet.
Rusty: I never found them to be incongruous. The only odd bit is when Han walks over Jabba's tail.
DeleteI don't have the movies on blu-ray yet. There's a story behind that.